Kota Kinabalu: The marriages of some 261 Muslim Indonesian couple residing in Sabah was solemnised over three days from Dec 3 at the Indonesian Consulate here, recently through a programme called 'Itsbat Nikah".It was the 8th time that the "Itsbat Nikah" programme was held and had become benchmark. Similar activity would be adopted in other states in Malaysia such as Kuala Lumpur where there are big number of Indonesian citizens.

The exercise would also be conducted in Kuching, Sarawak in due course.

According to Consul General Krishna Djelani, the mass solemnisation outside the country is one of the biggest outreach programmes to legalise marriages, especially for those who are too poor to afford a ceremony.

It also helped to ease their burden on documentation issues. The Indonesian Government had awarded the consulate a Public Services Award under the Best Innovation Category.

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"We take pride in discharging our duties to help our people to be recognised outside our country by looking after their welfare with proper documentation done, in the future their children should be able to enjoy their rights accordingly," said Krishnan.

Some 1,680 couples have received their official solemnisation through this exercise since 2011.

Krishna disclosed that the registered nationals working currently in the estates in Sabah numbered 151, 979. He urged those yet to register to do so in order to be legally recognised.

"The companies that these nationals are working for are working closely with our consulate in KK. They are able to inform us and help us with the registration of new employees accordingly.

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"The companies will be fined with heavy penalty if they do not register their workers officially," he said

He said in 2014 and 2015, mass solemnisation was also conducted for non-Muslim Indonesian couples.

"But due to the small number of non-Muslim nationals here, we do not carry out the exercise yearly. When there are at least 200 couples (non-Muslim), only then we invite our priests and judges from Indonesia for the exercise," he said.

Milah Bingaseh, a Bugis, who followed her husband, Majid Baba to work in an estate in Sandakan, said she was happy that their marriage was finally legalised.

Having a 5-year old child, Milah is relieved that her future would be taken care of and her child could attend to education formally.

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According to Dr Aco Nur, the Supreme Court Judge of Indonesia, when a child is given the rights to education, it would contribute greatly to the wellbeing of the nation as a whole.

"Through education we can prosper in any fields we venture as it forms our self-discipline, instil knowledge and skills and most importantly to recognise our rights as a citizen," he said. - Lorena Binisol